This reassessment of the international monetary crisis that led to the Great Depression also analyses the responses of the world economic powers to the Depression and examines how new monetary policies set the stage for Bretton Woods. It offers new theories of what effect the Great Depression and the collapse of the world monetary system had on one another. The events of this period of crisis have striking parallels with recent events, such as nations defaulting on their debts, a stock market crash, and an agricultural crisis.